The recent appointment of a caretaker government in Sudan suggests that Lieutenant-General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan – the de facto military ruler of Sudan since the coup of 25 October 2021 – and his allies remain confident that they will be able to dictate the transition process to nominal civilian rule by buying themselves time. This appointment came after Burhan’s meeting late last week with US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee and Washington’s new Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield, in which the military strongman insisted he was open to an inclus…